The King James Bible

The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament and the New. Newly Translated out of the Originall Tongues, & with the Former Translations diligently Compared and Revised by his Majesties Special Comandement, Appointed to be read in Churches, Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most excellent majestie, Anno Dom. 1611.

1. Reprints

The Holy Bible: a Facsimile in a reduced size of the Authorized Version published in the year 1611, with an introduction by A.W. Pollard, and illustrative documents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1911.

The Holy Bible, an Exact Reprint Page for Page of the Authorized Version Published in the Year MDCXI. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1833. Roman type. (reprinted by Thomas Nelson in 1993 as The Holy Bible, 1611 Edition).

William Aldis Wright, ed., The Authorised Version of the English Bible, 1611, edited by William Aldis Wright. 5 volumes. Cambridge: University Press, 1909.

The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament, and the New; newly translated out of the originall tongues & with the former translations diligently compared and reuised. London, Imprinted by Robert Barker, printer to the King, 1611. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1965. “Facsimile of the first impression.”

2. General Studies

Ward S. Allen, ed., Translating for King James: being a true copy of the only notes made by a translator of King James’s Bible, the Authorized Version, as the Final Committee of Review revised the translation of Romans through Revelation at Stationers’ Hall in London in 1610-11. Allen Lane: Penguin Press, 1970. A reproduction of notes taken by John Bois as he and others discussed the translation.

Ward S. Allen, Translating the New Testament Epistles, 1604-1611: A Manuscript from King James’s Westminster Company. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1977. A collation of Lambeth Palace Library MS. 98, with the Bishops’ Bible, and the Authorized Version of 1611. Includes bibliographical references.

Ward S. Allen and Edward C. Jacobs, The Coming of the King James Gospels: A Collation of the Translators’ Work-in-Progress. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1995. Collates the scribal notes in a copy of the Bishops’ Bible used to record revisions for the KJV. Reproduces the text of the Bishops’ Bible, the proposed revisions, and the final form accepted in the KJV.

Irena Dorota Backus, The Reformed Roots of the English New Testament: The Influence of Theodore Beza on the English New Testament. Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1980.

Benson Bobrick, Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Frank Ely Gaebelein, Down through the ages; the story of the King James Bible. New York, The Macmillan company, 1924.

E. J. Goodspeed, ed., Translators to the Reader; Preface to the King James Version, 1611. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935.

David Daiches, The King James Version of the English Bible; an account of the development and sources of the English Bible of 1611 with special reference to the Hebrew tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941. Reprinted 1968.

Melvin E. Elliott, The Language of the King James Bible: A Glossary Explaining its Words and Expressions. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967. This is a very helpful book that gives a glossary of all the archaic words in the KJV. This book has nearly 2000 entries.

Alister McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language and a Culture. New York: Doubleday, 2000.

Adam Nicolson, God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN: 0060185163.

Gustavus S. Paine, The Learned Men. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1959. Reprinted as The Men Who Produced the King James Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988.

E.F. Rhodes and L. Lupas, The Translators to the Reader: The Original Preface of the King James Version of 1611 Revisited. New York: American Bible Society, 1997.

William Rosenau, Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible. Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, 1902.

Edwin Eliott Willoughby, The making of the King James Bible. Los Angeles: Plantin Press, 1956.

Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament. New York: Scribners, 1887. Issued in four volumes 1887-1890 and reprinted by Eerdmans in 1946. Currently available from Hendrickson. In these volumes Vincent offers many corrections to the KJV, and generally compares it to the English Revised Version (1881)

Millar Burrows, Diligently Compared: The Revised Standard Version and the King James Version of the Old Testament. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1964. A detailed and scholarly comparison.

Ralph Earle, Word Meanings in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986. Earle gives explanations for most of the important differences in rendering between the King James Version and the major English versions published in the twentieth century.

Hannibal Hamlin and Norman W. Jones, eds., The King James Bible After Four Hundred Years: Literary, Linguistic, and Cultural Influences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

3. Books by King James Version Apologists

Please note: The books listed below contain many falsehoods. They are included in this bibliography only because of their importance as literature of the “King James Only” teaching which arose in some conservative churches during the latter half of the 20th century.